Activity powered band device

ABSTRACT

A method provides a band, including: placing an energy harvesting mechanism within a deformable band; the energy harvesting mechanism being placed to transform deformation of the deformable band into stored energy; and providing a connection element to the energy harvesting mechanism; said connection element offering a coupling of the stored energy of the deformable band to a device. In an embodiment, a force is applied to deform a deformable band along a length dimension of the deformable band. The force acts to move an energy harvesting mechanism of the deformable band such that the energy harvesting mechanism transforms deformation of the deformable band into stored energy. The stored energy may be used, e.g., to collect information using a sensor of said deformable band. Other aspects are described and claimed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional application of co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/178,453, filed Feb. 12, 2014, the contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference as if set forth in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

Information handling devices (“devices”), for example smart phones,tablet computers, etc., have seen their functionality replicated andenhanced in the form of wearable devices. For example, smart watches area form factor gaining in popularity, with many smart phone or tabletfunctions being provided or enhanced via the smart watch (e.g.,messaging application such as SMS text, email, image capturing with acamera, etc.).

Therefore, users may include wearable devices among their personalelectronics to provide a fuller user experience. Wearable devices areoften compatible such that they operate in connection with other, moreconventional devices, e.g., tablet computing devices, laptop and desktopcomputing devices, smart phones, etc. In this regard, information may beexchanged between the various devices via wired and/or wirelessconnections there-between.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In summary, one aspect provides a band, comprising: an energy harvestingmechanism that stores energy in response to deformation of the band; adevice; and a connection coupling the stored energy of the band to thedevice.

Another aspect provides a method, comprising: placing an energyharvesting mechanism within a deformable band; the energy harvestingmechanism being placed to transform deformation of the deformable bandinto stored energy; and coupling a connection element to the energyharvesting mechanism, said connection element offering a coupling of thestored energy of the deformable band to a device.

Another aspect provides a method, comprising: applying a force to deforma deformable band along a length dimension of the deformable band; saidforce acting to move an energy harvesting mechanism of the deformableband such that the energy harvesting mechanism transforms deformation ofthe deformable band into stored energy; and collecting information usinga sensor of said deformable band; said sensor acting to use the storedenergy of the deformable band to collect said information.

A further aspect provides a system, comprising: a band including anenergy harvesting mechanism that stores energy in response todeformation of the band; a remote device; and a connection coupling thestored energy of the band to the remote device.

The foregoing is a summary and thus may contain simplifications,generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled inthe art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is notintended to be in any way limiting.

For a better understanding of the embodiments, together with other andfurther features and advantages thereof, reference is made to thefollowing description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appendedclaims

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of information handling device circuitry.

FIG. 2 illustrates another example of an information handling device.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an activity powered band device.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method of operating an activity poweredband device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments, asgenerally described and illustrated in the figures herein, may bearranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations inaddition to the described example embodiments. Thus, the following moredetailed description of the example embodiments, as represented in thefigures, is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments, asclaimed, but is merely representative of example embodiments.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” (or the like) means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearance of the phrases “in oneembodiment” or “in an embodiment” or the like in various placesthroughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In thefollowing description, numerous specific details are provided to give athorough understanding of embodiments. One skilled in the relevant artwill recognize, however, that the various embodiments can be practicedwithout one or more of the specific details, or with other methods,components, materials, et cetera. In other instances, well knownstructures, materials, or operations are not shown or described indetail to avoid obfuscation.

A benefit of wearable devices, e.g., a smart watch or other wearabledevice, is that modern sensors can be much more effective if they arephysically separated. For example, a remote microphone could be used toimprove quality or listen to different sounds as compared to amicrophone on a single device. Similarly, a remote camera would have adifferent point of view than a camera integrated within, e.g., a laptopor tablet computing device.

A problem, however, is that the remote sensors require a ready powersource. Thus, each of these remote sensing devices requires not only anadditional device but one that must be provided power all the time. Inthis regard, although a smart watch solves the location problem, i.e.,provides remote sensing capability with respect to another device withwhich it communicates, e.g., a tablet computing device or smart phone,and may be complex enough to even replace an existing device, it doesnot solve the power problem. That is, a smart watch includes a batterythat is charged in a conventional fashion, e.g., via wired charging orvia wireless charging (via a charging pad). Each of these chargingschemes, at present, requires the smart watch to be removed for frequentcharging. Similarly, portable/wearable health monitors allow appropriatesensing but only have about one week of stored battery charge before aneed to be charged arises. This creates a significant tradeoff betweendevice functionality (and power draw) and device independence (i.e., theability to operate without going through a dedicated charging period).

Accordingly, an embodiment provides a wearable device that is chargedvia the activity of the user. In an embodiment, a wearable band device,e.g., incorporated into a belt buckle, provides a device that can beaugmented with sensors and a solution to the power supply problem isthus afforded. Moreover, as many people already wear a belt, aconventional belt buckle may be easily replaced with one formedaccording to an embodiment.

In an embodiment, an activity powered band device such as a smart beltbuckle leverages the natural stresses on the belt buckle, which involvea considerable force that may be utilized as a power source, to provideenergy to the device's functional components, e.g., sensors,communication elements, display screen, and the like. Forces of up to 20lbs and motion on the order of inches frequently occur, e.g., one timeper minute. This represents approximately 50 milliwatts of energy and isadequate to power a typical microcontroller, sensors and wirelessnetwork communication device.

An embodiment thus utilizes a method to convert the mechanical energyfrom deformation (e.g., along a linear dimension of a band such as abelt) into electricity usable by the device components. A rechargeablebattery may be incorporated into the system to capture and store theenergy to provide a consistent user experience. Wireless communicationmay be afforded using, e.g., a low energy BLUETOOTH communicationelement in operative connection with another device, e.g., a smartphone.

In an embodiment, a wearable device incorporating a deformable band,e.g., a smart belt buckle, may use input for control, e.g., voiceactivation, buttons, or touch screen. The device may also incorporate alow energy display. In some embodiments, the primary method to interactwith the device is another, operatively coupled device, e.g., a smartphone application sending commands and receiving information from thewearable device.

Sensor(s) of the wearable device may include a microphone to providealternate sound input, physiological sensors (e.g., pulse, stepcounting, sound detection, etc.) for health monitoring, e.g., to reportactivity levels, abdominal sounds or the like. Also, a sensor or sensorsmay provide positional or orientation information, e.g., using standard9-axis motion detectors (including an accelerometer, gyroscope andcompass).

Given the implementation chosen, unique sensor inputs may be available.For example, if in the form of a belt, since the belt is worn for longperiods and is near the center of mass, position reading from the bucklewould be different than from other locations such as a watch or phone ina pocket. Other remote sensors (temperature, light, humidity, etc.) maybe utilized, e.g., may be placed in the buckle.

The data or information derived from sensor(s) of the buckle may becombined of fused with other data or information to do sophisticatedphysical or medical analyses. For example, unique audio data could becombined with other physical data to determine types of physical stressand allow recommended actions to be identified. The power draw for suchcomplex calculations may remain low, for example by having anoperatively coupled device such as a tablet computing device or smartphone handle some or all of the processing needed.

The illustrated example embodiments will be best understood by referenceto the figures. The following description is intended only by way ofexample, and simply illustrates certain example embodiments.

While various other circuits, circuitry or components may be utilized ininformation handling devices, with regard to smart phone and/or tabletcircuitry 100, an example illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a system designfound for example in tablet or other mobile computing platforms.Software and processor(s) are combined in a single unit 110. Internalbusses and the like depend on different vendors, but essentially all theperipheral devices (120) may attach to a single unit 110. The circuitry100 combines the processor, memory control, and I/O controller hub allinto a single unit 110. Also, systems 100 of this type do not typicallyuse SATA or PCI or LPC. Common interfaces for example include SDIO andI2C.

There are power management circuits(s) 130, e.g., a battery managementunit, BMU, which manage power as supplied for example via a rechargeablebattery 140, which may be recharged by a connection to a power source(not shown). In at least one design, a single unit, such as 110, is usedto supply BIOS like functionality and DRAM memory.

System 100 typically includes one or more of a WWAN transceiver 150 anda WLAN transceiver 160 for connecting to various networks, such astelecommunications networks and wireless Internet devices, e.g., accesspoints. Additionally, one of the additional devices 120 is commonly asensor such as a microphone, a camera, a positional sensor, etc.Commonly, system 100 will include a touch screen/controller 170 for datainput and display. System 100 also typically includes various memorydevices, for example flash memory 180 and SDRAM 190.

FIG. 2, for its part, depicts a block diagram of another example ofinformation handling device circuits, circuitry or components. Theexample depicted in FIG. 2 may correspond to computing systems such asthe THINKPAD series of personal computers sold by Lenovo (US) Inc. ofMorrisville, N.C., or other devices. As is apparent from the descriptionherein, embodiments may include other features or only some of thefeatures of the example illustrated in FIG. 2.

The example of FIG. 2 includes a set 210 (a group of integratedcircuits, or chips, that work together) with an architecture that mayvary depending on manufacturer (for example, INTEL, AMD, ARM, etc.).INTEL is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation in the UnitedStates and other jurisdictions. AMD is a registered trademark ofAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc. in the United States and otherjurisdictions. ARM is a trademark of ARM Holdings plc in variousjurisdictions.

The architecture of the set 210 includes a core and memory control group220 and an I/O controller hub 250 that exchanges information (forexample, data, signals, commands, et cetera) via a direct managementinterface (DMI) 242 or a link controller 244. In FIG. 2, the DMI 242 isan interface (sometimes referred to as being a link between a“northbridge” and a “southbridge”). The core and memory control group220 include one or more processors 222 (for example, single ormulti-core) and a memory controller hub 226 that exchange informationvia a front side bus (FSB) 224; noting that components of the group 220may be integrated in a unit that supplants the conventional“northbridge” style architecture.

In FIG. 2, the memory controller hub 226 interfaces with memory 240 (forexample, to provide support for a type of RAM that may be referred to as“system memory” or “memory”). The memory controller hub 226 furtherincludes a LVDS interface 232 for a display device 292 (for example, aCRT, a flat panel, touch screen, etc.). A block 238 includes sometechnologies that may be supported via the LVDS interface 232 (forexample, serial digital video, HDMI/DVI, display port). The memorycontroller hub 226 also includes a PCI-express interface (PCI-E) 234that may support discrete graphics 236.

In FIG. 2, the I/O hub controller 250 includes a SATA interface 251 (forexample, for HDDs, SDDs, 280, etc.), a PCI-E interface 252 (for example,for wireless connections 282), a USB interface 253 (for example, fordevices 284 such as a digitizer, keyboard, mice, cameras, phones,microphones, storage, other connected devices, etc.), a networkinterface 254 (for example, LAN), a GPIO interface 255, a LPC interface270 (for ASICs 271, a TPM 272, a super I/O 273, a firmware hub 274, BIOSsupport 275 as well as various types of memory 276 such as ROM 277,Flash 278, and NVRAM 279), a power management interface 261, a clockgenerator interface 262, an audio interface 263 (for example, forspeakers 294), a TCO interface 264, a system management bus interface265, and SPI Flash 266, which can include BIOS 268 and boot code 290.The I/O hub controller 250 may include gigabit Ethernet support.

The system, upon power on, may be configured to execute boot code 290for the BIOS 268, as stored within the SPI Flash 266, and thereafterprocesses data under the control of one or more operating systems andapplication software (for example, stored in system memory 240). Anoperating system may be stored in any of a variety of locations andaccessed, for example, according to instructions of the BIOS 268. Asdescribed herein, a device may include fewer or more features than shownin the system of FIG. 2.

Information handling device circuitry, as for example outlined in FIG. 1or FIG. 2, may be used in devices such as wearable devices. For example,the circuitry outlined above, e.g., in FIG. 1, may be incorporated intoa wearable device such as a belt including a band component, e.g., beltbuckle, which is charged via user activity. Of course, some of thecircuitry outlined in FIG. 1 may or may not be included. Similarly, thecircuitry outlined in FIG. 2 may be included in a device with which awearable device communicates and operates with, e.g., a user's laptopcomputer.

Referring to FIG. 3, an embodiment provides a band 300 that includes amechanism 302 that harvests the energy provided by user activity, e.g.,incorporated into the band as a component such as a belt buckle 301. Itshould be noted that “activity” may be understood as physical movementimparting deforming force to the band, whether intentional orinadvertent. For example, a user's natural motions throughout the daymay translate to force applied to a band such as a belt worn about thewaist. In this regard, a user often provides activity in a passivemanner.

Thus, in an embodiment, an energy harvesting mechanism 302 stores energyin response to deformation of the band 300. This deformation may be astretching and relaxing of a pliable or flexible material included inthe band 300. For example, the band, if formed as a belt with a beltbuckle 301, may include flexible material in the band proper or in acomponent thereof, e.g., within the belt buckle 301, such that the useractivity flexes and relaxes the band in a linear dimension, e.g., as theuser breathes in and out, expands and contracts the abdominal area, etc.

The energy harvesting mechanism 302 may take a variety of forms andindeed more than one form may be incorporated into a single bandcomponent, e.g., buckle 301, or several components. In this regard, theenergy harvesting mechanism 302 will be acceptable if it convertsphysical movement of the deformable band (or sub component thereof,e.g., buckle 301) into stored energy. Acceptable energy harvestingmechanisms 302 include but are not limited to piezo-electric materialsthat accumulate electric charge in response to mechanical stress, lineargenerators, radial generators and the like.

A connection element 305 may provide a connection between the energyharvesting mechanism 302 and a device, e.g., a sensor, a display screen,a memory device, and/or an external device such as a smart phone, tabletcomputing device, etc. The connection element 305 may include aplurality of connection elements, for example linking an energy storagecomponent 303 such as a rechargeable battery and a sensor 304, e.g., acamera, a microphone, a physiological sensor, etc. It should be notedthat the device 303, e.g., a sensor such as a camera, may be physicallyseparate from the buckle 301, and thus the connection element mayinclude a wired or wireless connection there-between. Thus, theconnection element may operatively couple various sub components suchthat the energy harvesting mechanism 302 may charge a battery 303, e.g.,via diode (or similar electronic circuitry to limit current and powerflow to charging the battery) placed in connection with the energyharvesting mechanism 302 and the battery 303, and provide power foroperation of a sensor 304 or sensors that in turn communicate with aconnected device such as a paired smart phone, tablet, etc.

In an embodiment, a system may be formed including a band having anenergy harvesting mechanism 302 that stores energy in response todeformation of the band, and a remote device similar to device 304,placed remotely (e.g., off the band in another wearable article), with aconnection coupling the stored energy of the band, e.g., stored in abattery such as 303, to the remote device, e.g., another wearable devicesuch as a smart watch or the like. The connection may provide energy ofthe band to the other, remote device, e.g., using a wired or wirelessconnection. In an embodiment, the remote device may be temporarilyconnected to the band, e.g., for charging using stored energy of theband.

In an embodiment, an energy harvesting mechanism 302 is placed within adeformable band 300, e.g., within a buckle 301 of a belt to transformdeformation of the deformable band element, e.g., buckle 301 in theexample of FIG. 3, into stored energy, e.g., stored in rechargeablebattery 303. A coupling, e.g., facilitated by a connection element suchas indicated at 305, may be provided such that the energy harvestingmechanism 302 is coupled to a device 304, such as a camera, microphone,a low powered display or a component of the connection element, e.g., awireless radio such as a BLUETOOTH communication element.

The connection element 305 offers a coupling of the deformable band 300to a device such as a smart phone or a tablet computing device, e.g.,via a wired or wireless connection. The coupled device, e.g., smartphone or tablet computing device, may thus communicate with the device304 of the band 300, e.g., camera, low power display, etc., via a wiredor wireless communication protocol such that additional functionalitymay be facilitated by the connected device.

The device 304 of the band 300 may be one or more devices, such as asensor selected from the group consisting of a camera, a positionsensor, an orientation sensor, an audio sensor, and physiologicalsensor; and/or the device may be a low power display, a memory device,or a suitable combination of the foregoing. The band 300 may be, inaddition to or in lieu of a belt, integrated into an article of clothingfor a user. For example, the band 300 may be integrated into a waistbandof an article of clothing or otherwise integrated into a wearable bandshaped device that flexes with movement of the user.

In an embodiment, the activity of a user is leveraged to supply forcethat deforms a band (or portion thereof) to allow physical movement tobe converted into stored electrical energy. For example, if the band isformed of a material having a length dimension that exceeds a widthdimension and a depth dimension, e.g., a belt that is longer than it iswide or deep, the deformation of the band may include a lineardeformation that is substantially parallel to the length dimension ofthe band, e.g., stretching and compressing of the beltcircumferentially. In this regard, the band may include suspenders, or aband included in a shoe, a bra-strap or other wearable article.

Turning to FIG. 4, by way of example, a user applies a force to deform adeformable band along a length dimension of the deformable band at 401.For example, a user wearing the belt will stretch and relax the belt,and thus the band component containing the energy harvesting mechanism,thus providing deformation thereof. The force acts to move the energyharvesting mechanism of the deformable band such that the energyharvesting mechanism transforms deformation of the deformable band intostored energy at 402. An embodiment, as described herein, includes asensor such as a camera, microphone of physiological/medical sensor,that collects information, e.g., as actuated by a user or otherwise,e.g., according to a policy, as illustrated at 403.

The sensor acts to use the stored energy of the deformable band tocollect the information at 404 and may thereafter provide theinformation so collected, e.g., via a connection element such as a wiredor wireless communication connection to an operatively coupled devicesuch as a smart phone or tablet computing device. For example, thesensed information may be transmitted to another device for storageand/or processing.

Accordingly, an embodiment provides an activity powered band device. Thedevice transforms the user's deformation (e.g., stretching) of the band(or component thereof) into electrical energy that powers, e.g., asensor, a low powered display, a communication element, etc. In thisway, an embodiment leverages existing physical force in a way thatpermits a remotely located sensor to derive its power in an efficientand non-intrusive way. This in turn facilitates use of remotely locatedsensors, e.g., in connection with other devices such as smart phones,tablets, laptops, etc.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, various aspects may beembodied as a system, method or device program product. Accordingly,aspects may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment or anembodiment including software that may all generally be referred toherein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects maytake the form of a device program product embodied in one or more devicereadable medium(s) having device readable program code embodiedtherewith.

Any combination of one or more non-signal device readable storagemedium(s) may be utilized. A storage medium may be, for example, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. More specific examples of a storage medium wouldinclude the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a storage medium is not asignal and “non-transitory” includes all media except signal media.

Program code embodied on a storage medium may be transmitted using anyappropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline,optical fiber cable, RF, et cetera, or any suitable combination of theforegoing.

Program code for carrying out operations may be written in anycombination of one or more programming languages. The program code mayexecute entirely on a single device, partly on a single device, as astand-alone software package, partly on single device and partly onanother device, or entirely on the other device. In some cases, thedevices may be connected through any type of connection or network,including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), orthe connection may be made through other devices (for example, throughthe Internet using an Internet Service Provider), through wirelessconnections, e.g., near-field communication, or through a hard wireconnection, such as over a USB connection.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to the figures,which illustrate example methods, devices and program products accordingto various example embodiments. It will be understood that the actionsand functionality may be implemented at least in part by programinstructions. These program instructions may be provided to a processorof a general purpose information handling device, a special purposeinformation handling device, or other programmable data processingdevice to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which executevia a processor of the device implement the functions/acts specified.

It is worth noting that while specific blocks are used in the figures,and a particular ordering of blocks has been illustrated, these arenon-limiting examples. In certain contexts, two or more blocks may becombined, a block may be split into two or more blocks, or certainblocks may be re-ordered or re-organized as appropriate, as the explicitillustrated examples are used only for descriptive purposes and are notto be construed as limiting.

As used herein, the singular “a” and “an” may be construed as includingthe plural “one or more” unless clearly indicated otherwise.

This disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription but is not intended to be exhaustive or limiting. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art. The example embodiments were chosen and described in orderto explain principles and practical application, and to enable others ofordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosure for variousembodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particularuse contemplated.

Thus, although illustrative example embodiments have been describedherein with reference to the accompanying figures, it is to beunderstood that this description is not limiting and that various otherchanges and modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in theart without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: storing, using an energyharvesting mechanism positioned within a deformable band, energy inresponse to deformation of the deformable band; and collecting, using adevice of the deformable band, information associated with a wearer ofthe deformable band; wherein a connection element provides a coupling ofthe stored energy of the deformable band to the device.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the deformable band further comprises a communicationelement.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the device is selected fromthe group consisting of a camera, a position sensor, an orientationsensor, an audio sensor, and a physiological sensor.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the energy harvesting mechanism is selected from thegroup consisting of a piezo-electric mechanism, a linear generatormechanism, and a radial generator mechanism.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the deformable band is integrated within an article of clothing.6. The method of claim 5, wherein the article of clothing is a belt.